[Mink]

I didn't quite understand all the praise for the SVO21, since I felt certain that the bottom is just too ripe.

I could answer this by saying: I don't quite understand all the hate for the SVO21. It all depends on the sources you read. In my perception these Sivgas get more hate than love, well at least here on this forum.
Yes, they are flawed, but at the same time nicely flavored. Like a pizza with extra cheese and other extra toppings. Totally wrong and a sin to the Neapolitans out there, but totally awesome to other dudes out there.

 

[Dobrescu George]

That's some mighty useful information, especially since you're the first and only person who's mentioned it.

I didn't quite understand all the praise for the SVO21, since I felt certain that the bottom is just too ripe.
Then I said, "well, maybe it's me or my gear or...something" and returned them without hesitation.

I haven't any interest in trying them again, not soon anyway, but I do appreciate the info you posted.

I'm really happy to help, and don't worry, I think that they are quite dark and bassy, but the Phoenix I reviewed before is just the other way around, balanced sweet and fun, you can read my take on it here: https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2021/04/sivga-phoenix-headphones-rise-fly-roar.html

 

[voja]

Here is a review from an unbiased Head-Fier:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sivga-sv021.25252/review/27330/

Forgot to post here, but here yall go.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Here is a review from an unbiased Head-Fier:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sivga-sv021.25252/review/27330/

Forgot to post here, but here yall go.

I saw your review, when I posted mine.

I was puzzled, as I know we are often in agreement, but I think that the fact they don't swivel horizontally is indeed a problem. I can't really comment on how bad it can be, on my head they sit perfectly, but I did have this problem with Kennerton Thror. Almost thrashed them in my review, until I figured you could use a screw to swivel them manually and I was like "Oh my, need to rewrite the thing, they are actually ok"

I had exactly the same problem as you do with Thror, could not make a seal, so it always resulted in a poor sound, until I did configure them for my head.

I would be curious to know if you heard Meze 99C, and if you liked them without EQ. Generally, SV021 sounds exactly like 99C with EQ does, so I think you may like a fuller midrange with a smoother treble, I think your description of the sound of SV021 is accurate, especially the comparisons to the phoenix.

Would really recommend Phoenix more, did so to tens of folks over the past few days, and those who were able to get them or listen to them in the meanwhile, returned to say that Phoenix is indeed worth it and they returned the SV021 and many of them ordered a phoenix. Puzzling thing, I didn't dislike SV021, but I agree entirely that Phoenix sounds far more balanced and better for the money.

 

[voja]

I saw your review, when I posted mine.

I was puzzled, as I know we are often in agreement, but I think that the fact they don't swivel horizontally is indeed a problem. I can't really comment on how bad it can be, on my head they sit perfectly, but I did have this problem with Kennerton Thror. Almost thrashed them in my review, until I figured you could use a screw to swivel them manually and I was like "Oh my, need to rewrite the thing, they are actually ok"

I had exactly the same problem as you do with Thror, could not make a seal, so it always resulted in a poor sound, until I did configure them for my head.

I would be curious to know if you heard Meze 99C, and if you liked them without EQ. Generally, SV021 sounds exactly like 99C with EQ does, so I think you may like a fuller midrange with a smoother treble, I think your description of the sound of SV021 is accurate, especially the comparisons to the phoenix.

Would really recommend Phoenix more, did so to tens of folks over the past few days, and those who were able to get them or listen to them in the meanwhile, returned to say that Phoenix is indeed worth it and they returned the SV021 and many of them ordered a phoenix. Puzzling thing, I didn't dislike SV021, but I agree entirely that Phoenix sounds far more balanced and better for the money.

As the saying goes, we all hear differently. I know that you listen to a lot of metal, and our hearing probably differs health-wise. I know that my hearing is not perfect because I used to max out the volume in my earlier days, and that was on earphones (I probably took some damage from that). Now I've calmed down and started to listen at quieter and more moderate levels. However, I know some folks that listen to music really, really loud, and that for a fact has an effect on our hearing — especially in the upper end.

I've never had a chance to listen to Meze 99C, but in general heard that people have split opinions about the 99 series.

In my opinion, SV021's sound performance cannot keep up with other headphones in this price range.

In terms of Kennerton headphones, I've never had a chance to listen to them, but I know they are very well made. This being said, I wouldn't be worried about the headband breaking if its needed to bend it.

As you know, I loved the Phoenix, and think SIVGA is going down the wrong path currently. Both with its PR and its recent releases. I am hoping they make a comeback that makes all this trouble worth it

 

[Dobrescu George]

As the saying goes, we all hear differently. I know that you listen to a lot of metal, and our hearing probably differs health-wise. I know that my hearing is not perfect because I used to max out the volume in my earlier days, and that was on earphones (I probably took some damage from that). Now I've calmed down and started to listen at quieter and more moderate levels. However, I know some folks that listen to music really, really loud, and that for a fact has an effect on our hearing — especially in the upper end.

I've never had a chance to listen to Meze 99C, but in general heard that people have split opinions about the 99 series.

In my opinion, SV021's sound performance cannot keep up with other headphones in this price range.

In terms of Kennerton headphones, I've never had a chance to listen to them, but I know they are very well made. This being said, I wouldn't be worried about the headband breaking if its needed to bend it.

As you know, I loved the Phoenix, and think SIVGA is going down the wrong path currently. Both with its PR and its recent releases. I am hoping they make a comeback that makes all this trouble worth it

Volume does play a huge role here

You caught me, and I admit, I tested SV021 mostly at extremely loud volumes, with metal and rock music, I think that at quieter levels the bass indeed overtakes the mids and and the treble is a bit much. They tend to sound the better the higher you push the volume

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your hearing, I should really stop listening so loud and take care of it too

 

[voja]

Volume does play a huge role here

You caught me, and I admit, I tested SV021 mostly at extremely loud volumes, with metal and rock music, I think that at quieter levels the bass indeed overtakes the mids and and the treble is a bit much. They tend to sound the better the higher you push the volume

Also, I'm sorry to hear about your hearing, I should really stop listening so loud and take care of it too

Trust me, take care of your hearing. Before you know it, it will be gone. In other words, unrepairable.

Please be cautious and responsible. Too many of us say "I shouldn't listen at such high levels", but only take action once its too late. I've only listened to loud music for 2-3 years, and I'm pretty sure my hearing suffered some damage from that – luckily, no tinnitus so far!

Take some time to think about it and consider taking care of your health

 

[leamingtonspaceman]

I've just ordered a pair of these to use with a HiBy R6 Pro.

I'm a bit of a noob with balanced use and set-up so excuse me if this is a stupid question:

The R6 Pro has a 4.4mm balanced output I'd like to try. If I plugged a 4.4mm male to 3.5mm female adaptor into the R6 Pro balanced output, can I then plug the supplied SVO21 3.5mm cable into that and will that result in a balanced set-up? Or do I need a dedicated cable?

Thanks...

 

[dstarr3]

I've just ordered a pair of these to use with a HiBy R6 Pro.

I'm a bit of a noob with balanced use and set-up so excuse me if this is a stupid question:

The R6 Pro has a 4.4mm balanced output I'd like to try. If I plugged a 4.4mm male to 3.5mm female adaptor into the R6 Pro balanced output, can I then plug the supplied SVO21 3.5mm cable into that and will that result in a balanced set-up? Or do I need a dedicated cable?

Thanks...

You would need a new cable. Plugging an unbalanced headphone into a balanced output via adapter can damage your equipment. You can do it the other way around; you can plug balanced headphones into an unbalanced output using an adapter without issue. But unbalanced headphone into balanced output = broken stuff.

Reason being, a headphone has two drivers, each driver has two poles, a positive and a negative. So you're dealing with Left+, Left-, Right+, Right-. In a traditional unbalanced connection, the two negatives are shorted together, reducing the connector to three poles, L+, R+, and Ground. In balanced, the two negatives are kept separate, so it remains L+. L-, R+, R- at the connector. This is why you can adapt a balanced headphone to an unbalanced output, all you need is an adapter that receives the four poles and shorts the two grounds that hadn't yet been shorted, and outputs L+, R+, Ground at the other end. But you can't adapt an unbalanced headphone to a balanced output, because once the two negative poles are combined, they can't be separated back out. It's like if you had red water and blue water, combined them, and then tried to separate them back out again. Can't be done. You're just stuck with purple water and there's no going back. Similar thing here, once you unbalance the headphones by combining the two negative poles, there's no way to separate them again to re-balance them, and trying to do so will just risk damage to your amp, or headphones, or both.

In regards to making the Sivga balanced, luckily the headphone's design makes it easy, with the cable detachable at each individual earcup. I don't own this headphone, so hopefully an actual owner can verify this for me, but according to the Amazon page, the connectors at the earcups are 2.5mm. So you would need a cable that's dual 2.5mm at one end and 4.4mm balanced at the other end, which is something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/Youkamoo-Compatible-Version-Headphones-Replacement/dp/B096LXF8GH

There's a chance Amazon's Sivga page is wrong and it's actually dual 3.5mm connectors at the cups, so I'm hoping an owner here can verify that for me. But either way, dual 2.5mm or dual 3.5mm to 4.4mm balanced cables are pretty common (Hifiman headphones used to use dual 2.5mm and currently use dual 3.5mm), and by virtue of being common and non-proprietary they can be had pretty inexpensively.

 

[leamingtonspaceman]

You would need a new cable. Plugging an unbalanced headphone into a balanced output via adapter can damage your equipment. You can do it the other way around; you can plug balanced headphones into an unbalanced output using an adapter without issue. But unbalanced headphone into balanced output = broken stuff.

Reason being, a headphone has two drivers, each driver has two poles, a positive and a negative. So you're dealing with Left+, Left-, Right+, Right-. In a traditional unbalanced connection, the two negatives are shorted together, reducing the connector to three poles, L+, R+, and Ground. In balanced, the two negatives are kept separate, so it remains L+. L-, R+, R- at the connector. This is why you can adapt a balanced headphone to an unbalanced output, all you need is an adapter that receives the four poles and shorts the two grounds that hadn't yet been shorted, and outputs L+, R+, Ground at the other end. But you can't adapt an unbalanced headphone to a balanced output, because once the two negative poles are combined, they can't be separated back out. It's like if you had red water and blue water, combined them, and then tried to separate them back out again. Can't be done. You're just stuck with purple water and there's no going back. Similar thing here, once you unbalance the headphones by combining the two negative poles, there's no way to separate them again to re-balance them, and trying to do so will just risk damage to your amp, or headphones, or both.

In regards to making the Sivga balanced, luckily the headphone's design makes it easy, with the cable detachable at each individual earcup. I don't own this headphone, so hopefully an actual owner can verify this for me, but according to the Amazon page, the connectors at the earcups are 2.5mm. So you would need a cable that's dual 2.5mm at one end and 4.4mm balanced at the other end, which is something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/Youkamoo-Compatible-Version-Headphones-Replacement/dp/B096LXF8GH

There's a chance Amazon's Sivga page is wrong and it's actually dual 3.5mm connectors at the cups, so I'm hoping an owner here can verify that for me. But either way, dual 2.5mm or dual 3.5mm to 4.4mm balanced cables are pretty common (Hifiman headphones used to use dual 2.5mm and currently use dual 3.5mm), and by virtue of being common and non-proprietary they can be had pretty inexpensively.

WOW... thanks for that really detailed reply. I've learnt a lot from it.

I'm going to look into this and will post back once I have my head around it.

 

[BobSmith8901]

WOW... thanks for that really detailed reply. I've learnt a lot from it.

I'm going to look into this and will post back once I have my head around it.

I have the SV021's and use a balanced cable with my Shanling DAP's 4.4mm bal output. The headphones are definitely 2x2.5mm at the earcups. I'm using a Sendy Audio balanced cable w/2x2.5mm with a 4.4mm plug and it works great. The Amazon cable looks good, at good price too!

 

[leamingtonspaceman]

I have the SV021's and use a balanced cable with my Shanling DAP's 4.4mm bal output. The headphones are definitely 2x2.5mm at the earcups. I'm using a Sendy Audio balanced cable w/2x2.5mm with a 4.4mm plug and it works great. The Amazon cable looks good, at good price too!

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it a lot.

Is it this cable you have?

https://www.magnumsound.nz/sivga-sendy-audio-aiva-headphone-cable-4-4mm-balanced

I'm in the UK but can only find it available in New Zealand???

The only cable I can find on the Amazon UK site is this one:

Ablet HiFi Cable with 4.4MM Balanced Male to Dual 2.5mm male Compatible with Hifiman HE400S, HE-400I, HE560 HE1000 Headphone & Compatible Sony WM1A, NW-WM1Z, PHA-2A https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MSFF...abc_7E8RMZ0P2BXYK4DZ4C3J?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Will that work okay?

 

[BobSmith8901]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it a lot.

Is it this cable you have?

https://www.magnumsound.nz/sivga-sendy-audio-aiva-headphone-cable-4-4mm-balanced

I'm in the UK but can only find it available in New Zealand???

The only cable I can find on the Amazon UK site is this one:

Ablet HiFi Cable with 4.4MM Balanced Male to Dual 2.5mm male Compatible with Hifiman HE400S, HE-400I, HE560 HE1000 Headphone & Compatible Sony WM1A, NW-WM1Z, PHA-2A https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MSFF...abc_7E8RMZ0P2BXYK4DZ4C3J?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Will that work okay?

Hi--Yes that's the Sendy one I have although I paid around 90 bucks Canadian for it here. Again, Canadian dollars.

https://headphonebar.com/products/sendy-audio-balanced-headphone-cable?_pos=16&_sid=6f70b1e3c&_ss=r

The Ablet from your link from amazon uk looks like a good one, but I have another cable made of that material and it can be microphonic--not saying that one definitely would be, but it's possible. If I were you I would try the cable from dstarr3's amazon.com link--It gets good reviews and it's got a very reasonable price.

 

[leamingtonspaceman]

Hi--Yes that's the Sendy one I have although I paid around 90 bucks Canadian for it here. Again, Canadian dollars.

https://headphonebar.com/products/sendy-audio-balanced-headphone-cable?_pos=16&_sid=6f70b1e3c&_ss=r

The Ablet from your link from amazon uk looks like a good one, but I have another cable made of that material and it can be microphonic--not saying that one definitely would be, but it's possible. If I were you I would try the cable from dstarr3's amazon.com link--It gets good reviews and it's got a very reasonable price.

Well... my SV201's arrived today. Gave them a 30 minute test with some of my favourite music.

WOW... they sound incredible.

They're bright but also with a pretty taught bass. Ideal for my ears. I've been using some Sony 1000XM3's and now they sound like I'm listening underwater compared to the Sivga's.

Will probably go for the Ablet balanced cable on Amazon UK.

 

[BobSmith8901]

Well... my SV201's arrived today. Gave them a 30 minute test with some of my favourite music.

WOW... they sound incredible.

They're bright but also with a pretty taught bass. Ideal for my ears. I've been using some Sony 1000XM3's and now they sound like I'm listening underwater compared to the Sivga's.

Will probably go for the Ablet balanced cable on Amazon UK.

Glad you're enjoying them. I think you'll like them even more with the new balanced cable w/ the Hiby R6 Pro. I find with my Shanling M6 Pro 21 which also has 750mW out of its balanced outputs (in Turbo mode), that I get a bit more detail/definition out of the headphones, even though they are easy to drive. Just make sure to turn down the volume initially when you try your balanced cable connection for the first time.